Pastoral Landscape, circa 1914-1917, circa 1914

Commissioned from the Artist for the Gardiner Funeral Home, Winnipeg Loch Art Gallery, Winnipeg Private Collection, Calgary, 1975 Joyner, auction, Toronto, 28 November 1989, lot 137 Private Collection Heffel, auction, Vancouver, 26 May 2011, lot 305 Private Collection

Winnipeg artist Lionel LeMoine FitzGerald’s first encounter with art was in grade three when he was introduced to reproductions of art masterpieces produced by the Perry Picture Company. By grade seven the precocious child excelled at drawing lessons using Prang’s New Graded Course in Drawing for Canadian Schools. At age fifteen, FitzGerald discovered the writings of British art critic John Ruskin (1819–1900) who led him to study reproductions of nineteenth-century landscape paintings by John Constable (1776–1837) and J.M.W. Turner (1775–1851). After taking drawing lessons at A.S. Keszthelyi’s School of Fine Arts in 1909, FitzGerald hoped to work in a commercial art firm. While he did not find employment during a brief stay in Chicago in 1910, the twenty-year-old no doubt spent time at the Art Institute of Chicago where contemporary American landscape paintings reflecting Barbizon and Impressionist influences were on display. By 1911, FitzGerald had met Glasgow-trained artist Donald MacQuarrie (1872-after 1932) who was to become the first curator at the Winnipeg Museum of Fine Arts in late 1912. During his tenure, MacQuarrie was in charge of an exhibition of “Modern Scottish Art” which was so well received that Richardson Bros. organized a show of Scottish watercolours the following year. These pictures would have been conservative views of nature reflecting MacQuarrie’s personal taste for the hazy atmospheric "plein air" landscapes of Camille Corot. This Barbizon influence appealed to FitzGerald when he shared studio space with MacQuarrie in 1914. The two artists held a sale together in May 1914, and visitors included several well-known local collectors. This may be when FitzGerald came to the attention of the Gardiner Funeral Home in Winnipeg, founded by George Gardiner (1852–1912). When previously on the art market, "Pastoral Landscape" was identified as a mural commissioned by the Gardiner Funeral Home, although no documentation has survived. The large size of the painting, so unusual for FitzGerald at this point in his career, supports the notion that it was intended to decorate an architectural setting. While FitzGerald is heralded as an artist who painted directly from nature, this charming picture was carefully constructed in his studio. The remarkable composition, in which a central clump of trees divides the painting into a distant view of a lake with open sky (left) and a dense forest glade (right), suggests that the painting may well have been designed to harmonize with the architecture of a specific room. With pastel-like brilliance and dappled Impressionist brushstrokes, "Pastoral Landscape" conjures a lyrical vision of peace and tranquility. We extend our thanks to Michael Parke-Taylor, Canadian art historian, curator, and author of "Bertram Brooker: When We Awake!" (McMichael Canadian Art Collection, 2024) and editor of "Some Magnetic Force: Lionel LeMoine FitzGerald Writings" (Concordia University Press, 2023) for contributing the preceding essay.